No Fear
by Omixgirl10
Summary: Eight years ago, a young boy was found outside the Akatsuki hideout with amnesia. Now, after being trained for as long as he remembers as a spy, one mission may tear apart everything he knows - and everything his only 'family' has taught him. Slightly AU.
1. The Child

**A/N:** This was a concept that popped into my head while reading another fanfiction; it's another "take cliched idea and subvert it" thing, this time with the concept of "Akatsuki find and raise young child". So yes, more Akatsuki, and another OC.

Anyway, this thing starts early in Akatsuki's development, about eight years before Shippuden. This first chapter is mainly for exposition, so not much happens, but it may give a better idea of what's going on.

Obviously, I own neither _Naruto_ nor the Akatsuki, or I probably wouldn't be writing fanfic about them.

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><p>Rain pelted the ground, each drop creating a tiny splash as it landed. In the distance, thunder crashed, the only warning for the sudden noise presented in the form of a brief flash of lightning. And inside one of the Akatsuki's many smaller hideouts, silence reigned.<p>

The organization was in something of a slump lately; Kakuzu's most recent partner, having been abruptly attacked and strangled after an argument, had yet to be replaced. Kisame, too, was currently without a partner, with no possibilities evident. There was no news of the locations of the remaining Jinchuuriki, and no other particular missions which needed to be completed. On top of it all, they were running low on funds and constantly changing locations to remain undiscovered.

In other words, the Akatsuki were broke, many of them without partners. They had nothing to do, no way of reaching their goals, and overall, no purpose. They were most certainly not off to a smooth start.

Orochimaru peered out one of the small windows cut in the stone walls. "It doesn't look like it's letting up anytime soon," he noted, not appearing especially concerned with this situation.

If Orochimaru was unconcerned, his partner was downright apathetic. "If it keeps going, we may be trapped here for a while," Sasori added, carefully carving a piece of wood into what was already starting to resemble an arm.

"I'd think you two might see a bit more of a problem with this," pointed out Kisame, who was currently sitting as comfortably as one could on one of the thin mats that had recently been moved into the otherwise-barren cave.

Sasori just shrugged and continued carving. "I don't know about Orochimaru, but I have no real reason to be concerned." He put down his knife for a moment, looking Kisame in the eye to say, "If we end up trapped in here, I can outlast you all."

Kisame just smirked and leaned back against a stone wall. "Sure, Sasori-san. I don't doubt that. But I'm still wondering about Orochimaru-san..."

Before the snakelike missing-nin could answer, a wall shifted slightly as a human form emerged from it. **"There's someone outside," **Zetsu reported.

The four shinobi sitting in the cave turned to look at each other questioningly. With their leader gone, out looking for information on possible new recruits, they were left to watch the hideout.

Finally, Kakuzu sighed and took charge. "Fine... Zetsu, do you know who it is?"

Zetsu blinked, the white side of his face showing signs of uncertainty. "Well... not exactly. I mean, it's not someone who-"

**"You may want to see him,"** the black side interrupted.

"Bring him in, then," suggested Sasori, clearly wanting to get back to what he was doing.

With a nod, Zetsu sank back into the stone wall. From inside, the Akatsuki members could hear muffled speech, blurred by the stone between them and the speaker. The talking quickly became shocked, then scared, as Zetsu apparently grabbed onto the intruder.

After a moment, the plant-man made his reappearance in the cave, and release the person he had brought with him...

As it turned out, the intruder who they had been so worried about had been a five-year-old child.

The five ninja sat in silence, as the boy stared around the room with sea-green eyes, bewildered by the strange people suddenly surrounding him.

After a long silence, Kakuzu spoke. "_This _the intruder? Really, Zetsu?"

Zetsu shrugged, watching as the child stood up carefully. "We're supposed to report anyone who ends up on Akatsuki grounds. **Besides, for all we know, this child is a spy."**

"Hm. That is a possibility..." Kakuzu crouched down in front of the young boy, who blinked in surprise at the older man's bright green eyes and red scleras.

Still completely calm, Kakuzu reached into his cloak, pulling out a kunai and making sure the child got a good look at it.

At the sight of the weapon, the kid drew back with a small whimper, only to stumble over Zetsu's feet.

"Good to know you get the idea," Kakuzu said. "Now then, to business. First off: Why are you here?"

The child stared in shock at him, then, in a tremulous voice, whispered, "I... I don't know."

"How did you find us?"

"I don't know."

"...where are we?"

"I d-don't know!" The boy sniffled slightly, moisture rising in his eyes.

Kakuzu scowled beneath his mask and pulled back. "This is going nowhere. Kid, I'll ask you one last time: Why are you here?"

This time, there was no coherent answer, as the child simply stared in terror at him.

Rolling his eyes, Kakuzu turned to one other person who he figured might be able to get something out of the kid. "Sasori, do you have anything that could...?"

The puppet master got to his feet with a sigh, setting down his arm-in-progress and knife. "I'll see what I can do."

Within a matter of minutes, Sasori returned to the entry room of the small hideout, a small vial and needle in hand. "This should do it. It won't take much to ensure that everything he tells us is the absolute truth."

Ignoring his soft protests, Kakuzu took hold of the child's right arm, allowing Sasori to carefully inject the serum. The other Akatsuki members watched silently, curious as to the boy's reasons for being there at all.

After a moment, the serum did its work, causing the child's scared expression to become relaxed, and even blank. Kakuzu looked at Sasori, who nodded at him to start questioning the young intruder.

"Why are you here?" Kakuzu demanded.

The boy's face remained blank. "I don't know. I just came here."

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, still doubtful. "Do you know where 'here' is?"

"No."

"Did anyone tell you to come here?" From what the boy said, there was still a chance that he had simply been sent to spy on them and didn't know why.

"No, I just did."

After a moment, Sasori asked a question of his own. "Where were you before you were here?"

For an instant, confusion flickered across the child's face. "I don't remember."

Sasori frowned slightly, then, a possibility dawning on him, tried again. "Where are you from?"

The child's pale blonde eyebrows knit together, his voice trembling slightly. "I-I don't know. I don't remember."

Sasori turned to Kakuzu, raising an eyebrow. They clearly had the same idea. Finally, Sasori turned back to the boy.

"What's your name?"

For a moment, the young boy didn't answer, his expression becoming troubled, as he tried frantically to remember what he was sure was an important piece of information. "I... I don't... I can't..." His answer trailed off, tears once again filling his eyes.

Sasori and Kakuzu stood upright, looking down at the now-sobbing child. "That's it, then," Kakuzu stated flatly. "He must have amnesia."

"He could still be a sleeper agent," pointed out Orochimaru. "We would be best off killing him now."

Sasori rolled his eyes. "That's your answer to everything, isn't it."

His partner chuckled slightly. "Like you're one to talk. Besides, you know perfectly well that it's a possibility."

Sasori nodded slowly, turning back to the boy. The small dose of truth serum had started to wear off, sped up by the mental strain caused by Sasori's last question. The child was still crying, as well as starting to stare around the room in confusion, his memories of the last few minutes being foggy at best – another effect of the serum.

For a couple of seconds, Sasori watched the child, thinking. Then he came to what he realized should have been an obvious solution. The boy stood where he was, sniffling and rubbing round, seafoam-colored eyes with small, pale fists, looking as harmless as could be with his small size and soft, straw-blonde hair. _Completely harmless._

Abruptly, Sasori turned to face Kakuzu. "I know what we can do with the boy," he announced.

The older Akatsuki member raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?" Whatever the puppet master was planning, he didn't seem to be taking his partner's suggestion.

Sasori nodded toward the child as he spoke. "Look at this boy. Do you honestly think that anyone could suspect him of working for Akatsuki?"

Understanding rose in Kakuzu's eyes. "He could be very useful as a spy..."

Kisame frowned slightly, standing up. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but... does that really seem like a good idea? Orochimaru-san has a point; he could easily be a sleeper agent."

Sasori gave the shark-man a doubtful look. "And if he is? Do you really doubt that we, the Akatsuki, could not realize it if he got his memories back and started to work against us? And of course, once we knew that, killing a mere child would be nothing."

Zetsu, having been watching the other members' discussion in silence, took this chance to speak up. **"We would need to get Leader-sama's permission for something like this. **I think he'll probably agree, though; we'll go talk to him right away."

After the plant-like man had disappeared through the floor, Kakuzu turned to look at the child, who, not following the conversation at all, was looking around in bewilderment. "Hmph. I just hope he doesn't become too problematic to have around. Either way, he'll need to have at least some training."

Sasori nodded. "Of course. And with that in place..." Sasori turned again to the boy, something that was almost a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I think we'll have quite an effective little spy."

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><p><strong>AN: **So there ya go. First chapter is not exciting. But don't worry, it'll get better soon! So, read and review!


	2. Changes

**A/N: **Right. Sorry for the long wait/short chapter combo. BUT HEY IT'S HERE.

After this, it may be best to basically treat this as a mangaverse AU, as it starts pulling away from the official story even more.

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><p>"Faster. I said faster, not slower; now make sure to- Ugh. Dodge, not block. Really, what was that?" Kakuzu retracted the tendrils in his arms, leaving his previously crouched stance to stand upright. "Make sure you're not just flailing around, would you?" he asked the young ninja before him.<p>

The boy, no more than thirteen, judging by his appearance, staggered to his feet, flicking spiky, pale blonde hair out of his sea green eyes. He stumbled for a moment, refusing to support himself on the wooden training dummy next to him. He glared at Kakuzu, his mouth twisting into a scowl at the older ninja's exasperated comment.

"I'm not _flailing,_" he snapped. "I just made a bad call. This time I'll-"

"_Just _a bad call?" the Akatsuki member interrupted him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you realize what that 'bad call' would cost you in a real battle, Yuu?"

The boy, Yuu, sniffed derisively, narrowing his eyes at a lesson he had heard before – repeatedly. "Yeah, the mission, the battle, whatever. Now can I just-"

"How about your _life?_"

The young boy flinched away for a moment, but quickly forced himself to stand tall (tall being a relative term), glaring at his teacher. "It's just training, anyway; why does it matter if-"

"_Are you listening to me?_" Kakuzu pointed an accusing finger at the spy-in-training, dark brows knitting together. "Training or not, you can't let something like that happen in a real battle. And in order to do that, you need to make _no distinction _between training and a real battle. Aim to kill, fight as if your life depends on it, and _don't make mistakes._ Understood?"

"But-"

"_Understood?_"

Yuu's frown deepened, but he lowered his gaze, directing his glare at the dead leaves at his feet. "Understood. It won't happen again, sir."

"Good." Kakuzu nodded, walking past the boy on his way back to the hideout. He paused as he went by, momentarily resting a hand on Yuu's shoulder. "We're done for today. Get back inside."

Yuu nodded, but didn't move as Kakuzu continued on his way. He instead kept staring at the ground, his brow furrowing slightly. _Don't make mistakes._

Abruptly, he spun around, whipping a kunai from the small pack at his waist and hurling it toward a sand-filled dummy. The knife buried itself in the fabric of the dummy's chest, and sand poured out with a satisfying _fssssshh_, leaving a small pile on the ground. Yuu, his expression unchanging, walked over to the dummy, picked up the weapon from where it had fallen in the pile of sand, and slipped it back into his pack. "Perfect," he whispered. Just as he was expected to be.

Hidan yanked the spike out of his chest, standing up and shooting a glare at the shinobi lying dead on the floor. "That was just _sad,_" he grumbled. "And to think you're supposed to be a jonin. That battle was practically an insult to Jashin-sama."

Of course, the corpse didn't answer. Hidan snorted and turned toward the doorway of the basement, leaving the body for Zetsu to deal with. He started to climb up the stairs, only to nearly crash into Kakuzu.

Kakuzu grimaced slightly under his mask, leaning around Hidan to examine the mess left at the bottom of the stairs. "That's disgusting, Hidan. Can't you do your pathetic rituals somewhere _outside?_"

"Hey, watch your mouth!" snapped the Jashinist. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be training that creepy brat you call a spy?"

"We finished earlier than expected."

"Yeah, sure. You just _happened _to finish early. Because you just can't bear to tire out the poor wittle boy, can you." Hidan scowled as Kakuzu pushed past him, no doubt to re-check the security under the base. The place was supposedly an abandoned dojo, not "structurally sound" enough to allow anyone inside. But just a warning wasn't much; the criminals got trouble fairly regularly from everyone from nosy ninja to stupid kids, trying to be "brave".

"So, what's the real reason for this 'abridged' training session, Kakuzu?" The missing-nin didn't answer, and his partner turned back up the stairs with a snort. "Whatever. If nothing else, maybe I'll ask him myself."

Kakuzu didn't even spare a glance at him, continuing down into the basement, carefully stepping around Hidan's newest "sacrifice" along the way. To be honest, the boy was certainly above average, considering his age. But "above average" wasn't good enough in the Akatsuki. If the child wasn't ready to take on the most dangerous opponents in a real battle, he had no place here.

Hidan, of course, didn't understand any of it. He had only come a couple of years ago; as far as he was concerned, Yuu was just the "creepy kid" who they kept around for no apparent reason. He hadn't been there when they had found the boy, about eight years ago now.

Kakuzu was by no means a sentimental or sensitive man. He had murdered countless people, whether for money, to take their hearts, or just out of blind rage, and it was almost unheard of for him to express any regret or guilt over these kills – it was anyone's guess as to whether he even felt any. And Yuu was by no means a lovable child. Maybe it was due to the Akatsuki's influence, or maybe it was just his nature, but the boy had, over time, grown to be stubborn, arrogant, and uncaring. But all the same (or maybe partly because of this similarity), Kakuzu felt that this boy was somehow his responsibility, if only in part. And, at the same, time, he couldn't allow anyone working for the Akatsuki to even be capable of slipping up – especially a spy, hand-raised by the criminals themselves. That would be outright humiliating.

So, through the last eight years, through all the members who came and went, Yuu had never gotten any slack. He was expected to be precise in every strike, unhesitating in each attack, fearless, merciless. He couldn't be allowed to lose.

Kakuzu thought in silence as he examined the traps and diversions, planning the next few training sessions. He seemed to be in charge of Yuu's training significantly more often lately, most likely due to the recent discovery of Yuu's chakra nature, and the subsequent decision to start teaching him how to use it properly. Kakuzu, being the only Akatuki member adept at the use of the same lightning-type chakra which Yuu possessed, therefore ended up working with the boy far more often.

Kakuzu, finished with the security, rose to his feet, about to return to the upper levels of the base. However, he was somewhat delayed when, without warning, something burst out of the ground in front of him, causing him to leap backward, drawing a kunai from his sleeve.

He relaxed, however, when the thing opened, revealing a familiar two-toned face.

"Dammit, Zetsu, watch it," Kakuzu snapped, slipping the weapon back into its hiding place. "You should know perfectly well how dangerous it is to startle me."

Rather than replying to Kakuzu's irritation, Zetsu responded with just three words.

"Sasori is dead."


End file.
